Tony Gatlif has a passion for music, especially ethnic music and songs which he arranges (and composes in the vein of the country where his plots take place).  This is to the fore with a musical tour of the countryside of Romania.

He has also been fond of gypsy stories and road journeys.  Again, Transylvania is a journey.  As regards the gypsies, we have prejudice against them as well as showing their kinder and more hospitable side.

The plot is archetypal but a bit thin.  A woman comes from France to find the man she loves and who has made her pregnant.  She is played by Asia Argento, on of the least maternal actresses one could find (xXx, Madame Du Barry in Marie Antoinette).  She is an intense, sometimes savage, screen presence and sometimes unleashes this on screen here. 

Amira Casar appears as he close friend and mentor but then disappears, her place being taken by a travelling tinker who buys gold from the locals.  He too is a wild man, (the powerful lead of Head On).

Gatlif, of course, captures the spirit of this dilapidated post-Communist countryside as well as the age-old traditions both pagan and religious (Orthodox).  He prefers over-the-top zest for life than comfortable and quiet drama.

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